It feels like oww
by ShyoB
Summary: Ahh... the oh soo wonderful days of being Markl


His First Heart Break

Michael being mad was an understatement. The 15 year old adolescence paced back and forth on the wooden polished floors that Sophie just mopped awhile ago. Now that all the chores are done for the day, with help of Howl and the Witch, Sophie retired early to her room. Calcifer watched his young friend as he stomped and growled past him and ran up to his room, slamming the door so hard it even worried Howl, who was still half asleep. The fire demon could've sworn that he saw the usually cheerful boy blow steam out his redden ears. Michael, to put simply, was pist.

Michael was out of the house when it happened. He put on his best cloths, which was a clean pair of black slacks and a loose, royal blue button up shirt. His hair was in a stylish red mess on his head, and the pink tinted glow on his warm cheeks made him look cuter than ever. As he walked down the road, he passed many stores with girls his age gawking at him as he went by. But the only he dressed this way for was his beloved Martha.

Martha was Sophie's youngest sister. The bright one, she always recalled. That girl, according to Sophie, would rather spend her days reading thick Shakespearean novels than towards her studies. But even then, she was really bright, the top of her class at school. Michael had no clue when he started developing his first crush for her, but he knew that every time they spoke, he'll always become nervous, which was very unlike his outgoing nature.

Today, he planned on surprising her with a bouquet of sunflowers that Sophie helped him pick that morning, and then managed to get out the house before Master Howl awakened from his deep slumber. He never told Howl of his outings or his crush on Sophie's sister for the matter, but it seemed as if Howl knew about everything that was going on that he neglected to tell him. For some reason he only told Sophie of these things, which is unexpected since he grew up with Howell all his life since he was four years old learning magic. Now, 15, and he still feels very uncomfortable talking to his master/father figure. Instead he gets advice from his young mother-like figure in his life, which he guesses is good thing since she knows some of the stuff that Martha likes, which isn't a lot. Martha was actually just as simple and easy as Sophie, only that she loves music and literature a lot more than she cares for beauty or more rather how she looks. This character trait made a big turn in Michael's life. He realized that not all girls are going to like the same things…thank god for that one.

As Michael turned another corner to quicken his timing, he stopped and calmed down, "you're only going to give her flowers…what's to be worried about?" As he skipped closer to the back entrance of the Bakery, he heard someone, and it was a man's voice…and Martha's voice?

"Oh Dmitry…that's so sweet of you!" she handled the bouquet of pink and white roses and pecked one of the town guards cheeks. This town guard was a 17 year old blond from the village near town, Michael heard from a rumor, which is true. When he finally looked over from hiding behind the brick walls, he spot them pressed against the back door, locking lips willingly and caressing each other, with such passion that it made him sick to his stomach from watching.

As Michael remembered the short memory, he forcefully threw the bundle of sunflowers out the window and cried. Crying wasn't something that he usually done, in fact he doesn't even remember the last time he did so, but he was feeling like digging a hole in the ground so that he could crawl in it and die.

"What's gotten into Markl?" Sophie ran out her room at the sudden bang of his door upstairs.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it must be really bad." Calcifer noted, grabbing a spare log right beside him.

Howl climbed out his bed and listened to the racket that was going on outside his door. He was in the middle of a strange dream, eating black cherries on the moon while Calcifer tried to prove to him that the moon was in fact made out of cheese. "I really need to stop reading such fantasy books Sophie gives me…" he mumbled as he scratched the back of his head. Howl trudged out his room and made it downstairs where he saw a startled Sophie, a ponderous Fire Demon and the cackling old witch. "What's going on?" Sophie sighed, "That what I was just about to ask. Markl, I guessed stormed in here a minute ago, and according to Calcifer he was really angry…oh no!" She gasped. "Now I remember, He went out earlier to see Martha…oh the poor boy…" Sophie made her way up the steps with Howl slowly on her trail to Michael's room. "What do you think happened?" Howl yawned. Sophie shrugged, "It could be anything…but I know it has to do with my younger sister…"

Sophie quietly knocked on his door that's at the end of the dark hall. "Markl, Sweetie, open the door" she called. Michael on the other side had his face buried in his pillow, "Go away" he moaned. Howl rolled his eyes, smirking. "But Markl, I want to help you!" Sophie yelled, getting her voice over the locked door. Michael was defiantly not in the mood to talk to anyone. When she heard nothing, she started rattling the door open, but Howl stopped her, "Leave him be, when he's ready he'll come out." Sophie stopped rapping on the door and frowned. "Howl…I've never seen him this way." Sadly, Howl agreed. "Me neither, but let him cool down first, and then asks questions later. Ok?" Sophie nodded, "Alright then. Well what shall it be, Pancakes or Eggs?"

Michael spent all day in that room, missing Breakfast, Lunch, and now dinner. Calcifer was getting worried again, as he watched everyone but his young friend sitting at the table to eat. "This is bad" he commented. When was the last time _he _seen Michael act this way…hum never!

Sophie sat at the edge of the table, feeding the old witch her chicken and potato soup. "Where's the little lad?" she asked, now only realizing that Michael wasn't around keeping noise and brightening the atmosphere in the house. Heen coughed, as if the ask as well. Sophie looked over at Howl as he washed his dishes in the sink, "Howl, you think that we should go up there again?" Howl glanced up at the ceiling, being Michael's room directly above of them. "I guess…this must be really serious if he hadn't come down all day. Sophie hand me a bowl of soup. I'll go up there and see what's wrong." He offered. Sophie was a little astounded to hear that from him, "are you sure?" Howl rolled his blue eyes, "I can't look after my own apprentice? Have a little more faith in me Sophie!" he chuckled.

"I guess so if you put it that way" she smiled. She handed him a lipid Bowl of her famous soup, as he headed up the stairs.

With a brief use of his hand, Howl unlocked the door with a little portion of his endless amount of magic and walked in the dark room, lighted with only a gas lamp by his night stand, which served as his desk too. Michael faced the opposite way from howl, but he knew he was awake. His arms hung limply off his short bed, the cover ruffled, his hair array and the hundreds of tears that he shed all day stained his usually bright face. The sun flower petals that Howl remembered Sophie arranging at the flower shop were starting to wilt from lack of moisture and bad atmosphere. Howl glanced down at the note card that was torn into shreds. From what Howl could read, it said: I…Martha, Love…you..

Howl sighed; his young apprentice was in love. Howl sat down next him on the bed, with the bowl of chicken and potato soup. "Michael?" Howl shook him awake. Michael flipped himself over and revealed his face to his master. Michael looked a wreck. His eyes were puffy and red, with bags under his eyes. His nose drooled with a puddle of snot that threatened to fall out his nose from crying all day. Tears stained his fair complexion and that broke Howl's heart.

"Michael you got hurt didn't you?" Michael solemnly nodded his head. Tears started to form in his eyes again, "She was with another man…that new guard that came a few weeks ago..." Howl felt sympathetic. He remembered what his first broken heart was like and it wasn't pretty. "And what happened when he was with her?" Michael rubbed his sore eyes and rubbed his nose, "When I was about go up to her and give her the flowers Sophie fixed for me, I heard them talking…she received a bouquet of pink and white roses…and then they started…" Michael sniffed, "what did they start doing Michael?" Howl rubbed his toned back, he was surprised by the muscle that he hidden under his shirt. Michael will turn out to be a handsome looking man when he's much older. He hesitated at first but then he blurted it out everything in one breathe, "They starting kissing and rubbing behind the bakery where Martha and I…I don't Understand! Howl, I thought we were together…I thought that I was...All I wanted was to be…Ah! Forget it!" He spat, "I should've known…I mean she stopped talking to me as often as she used to…and…" a tear ran down his face.

Howl was stunned; He had no idea that Michael felt this way for the girl. He always thought that it was just a small crush, but he obviously fooled everyone. Michael felt the meaning of love and he didn't even know it. "Michael, I'll tell you something that my uncle once told me." Michael hushed his own tears, "and what was that?" He looked up expectantly at his mentor. "If you love something let it go, If it comes back it's yours forever. And if it doesn't, it wasn't meant to be."

Michael cleared his voice before he spoke to his mentor, "so you're saying that I have to forget about her temporarily?" Howl shook his head, "No, I'm saying that if you love her that much, you should let her be happy. If her relationship doesn't work out, and she still thinks about you, then by all means go and get her!" Howl smiled. Michael still wasn't convinced, "But what if it wasn't meant to be, what will I do then?" he asked almost frantically. Howl wondered if he were ever this emotional. As a matter of fact, it was definitely the first time he'd seen his young, energetic apprentice so down in the dumps, but then again, all those dreams and ideas were washed up when Michael was brought to the reality of the situation. Martha wasn't in love with Michael, not like in the way Michael was.

A knock was heard at the door, "is everything okay?" it wasn't Sophie, but Grandma Witch. Before Howl or Michael could answer, the door swung open revealing the resigned witch. She waltz in the dark room and looked at Michael, "Kid, are you ok?" Michael shrugged. From the stairway, the soft and low pit patter of feet can be heard. Sophie barged in with a small candle. "You haven't touched your soup?" she went over and set her things down and hugged Michael, but he flinched away. So instead she rubbed his back soothingly. "There, there Markl…how about if I talk to Martha for you…is that alright with you?" Michael shook his head, "Sophie, why doesn't Martha like me?" Howl and Grandma remained quiet, as Sophie was developing an explanation in her noggin. "Well Markl, err…can you guys get out?" Howl and Grandma nodded, silently stepping out the room. Sophie gotten up and opened the curtains, revealing the sun set that dipped below the clouds. "That's better, now Markl…" the teen looked up, "yes?" Sophie sat down on the bed with him and brushed back his hair,

"As much as you love my little sister, I can't allow you to force her to love somebody she doesn't love at the moment. Yes, your heart is broken, but being good friends can last a life time. Even if you were to be together with Martha, if you were to get into an argument, do you think that sulking all day is going to make it better? "Michael shook his head slowly. "Howl said that if she doesn't love me, let her go. If she comes back to liking me, I should date her, but if she doesn't, then I should forget about her." Sophie nodded in understanding," yes that's true. Even if she may be in a relationship now, that won't guarantee that, everything will be fine. Some men can be nice in public but in closed doors, they can be your worst nightmare. Others can be fake and many don't know how to treat a lady. But you on the other hand Markl, you are different. You aren't like any other boy I came across so far. And I'd doubt she'll completely forget about you, but who knows sweet heart, she may just surprise you. Now it's late get some sleep."

As Sophie grabbed her candle and turned off Michaels gas lamp in his room, just as she was about to turn to leave, Michael called out her name, "Sophie?"

The young woman turned her attention to the scorned boy, "Yes Markl?"

Michael gotten out of his bed and hugged Sophie, surprising her. "Thank you, and tell Master Howl I said thank you as well."

Sophie teared up; it's been long since she's been thanked like this, especially from her favorite boy, whom she willingly adopted as a son figure. "You're most welcome Markl, now" she brushed back his red, crazy hair and planted a kiss on his head, "Next time something is bothering you, don't come in here making us worry. I already have a full set of white hair; I don't think I'll need anymore."


End file.
